Another Side, Another Story: It is time
by rikufanattic
Summary: A major re-write of my old fanfic. The time for Sora's new adventure is slowly approaching so the gang tries to make most of their time. It's not until Riku meets a girl with amber eyes that old questions begin to resurface and thoughts of the past.
1. Chapter 1

"You know you and I…" the woman paused softly before looking back at the boy, her eyes had been fixed on the stars. The millions of shining lanterns up above had been still for a long time now. "Are part of something so much bigger than this tiny island, not even the people here could fathom just how small we are."

"Ah…" it was all right for the woman if the child didn't understand why she said something like that. "Are we as tiny as ants?"

"Even tinier than that, but we all have our part to play," she said chuckling. "You'll understand what I mean when you get older."

She placed a strong hand on his head and ruffled his silver hair playfully till it looked like a mess. The boy huffed trying to fix it as he soaked in her words, maybe one day he would remember this event and reflect on it. The woman smiled and looked back up at the sky from her spot as the two of them sat on a bench within the residential area of this island.

"T-Teacher?" the boy had been thinking about it all day no doubt, and it wasn't until now that he could come out and ask it. "Do you think I'll be a good a-appren…tice?" he didn't feel too confident saying that word.

"As long as you set your mind and soul to it, and follow my rules," the boy looked up at his teacher, just by looking at her he could already tell she was a woman with tremendous strength who had been in her fair share of battles. He couldn't really help but wonder if each scar on her body told a story. "But you're still too young… so we'll have to wait 3 years at least."

"B-But-…!"

"I can't go back on my words, you know that. Besides your parents even agreed that was for the best. So spend as much time with them, and your friends. Because we won't be coming back here for a long time."

Chapter 1: E'giunta l'ora

Light didn't seem to enter the room, thick curtains blocked out all traces of the sun from passing through the window and illuminating the light blue room. Far off into the left side of the room against a wall a girl rubbed her eyes softly, body resting on the checkered sheets, she had overslept and what seemed like events all too real to be a dream haunted her subconscious. Such a happy and simple time, even she had to admit it to be so but it was better for her if they simply did not replay in her dreams again.

Black hair surrounded her like jagged silk ribbons, crushed under the weight of her body. She breathed in softly and closed her eyes, limiting herself from gazing around her space as she sighed heavily. A faint tick was all that was heard besides her breaths in the still silence. She didn't need to see it, that alarm clock was atop a black nightstand to her right, and there was a rug underneath her bed that extended to the right far into the middle of the room, and pressed up against a wall was a large wooden book shelf, with papers and books, and little figurines of stuff along with pictures. It was modern looking room with a desk close to the front door and a closet off to the side of the bed with mirrors.

"Sis, you awake?" a voice called out from the other side of the locked door.

"Morning, Brother!" her voice was upbeat.

"Morn' Sis," her brother returned her upbeat mood. "Sleep well kiddo?"

He could hear her scramble through the room, footsteps making their way across the rug, and before long his gaze moved down to look at a girl with amber eyes who barely reached up to his chin. The light skinned sibling smiled at his sister, the two contrasted heavily in skin as day was to night. All he received was a simple nod followed by a chuckle as she gathered her hair from the back of her head and put it up with a clip.

"So much so that I overslept," she said. "Did you save me breakfast?"

"Of course I did, otherwise you'd be bitching," he said playfully dodging a hit to the shoulder. "Hey hey play nice!" he moved his open palm quickly to block another punch and grinned. "I'll spare with you again after breakfast, but the loser has to take the dog outside for a walk."

"You're on old man." She smiled brightly like a little kid having been presented with a toy. "I'll go find the dog's leash while I'm at it."

"Already sensing defeat huh?" her brother walked down the hallway with her as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Tsk, no. It's just that we can NEVER find the thing afterwards," the girl laughed as she made her way to the kitchen table, she noticed that there was a plate wrapped in plastic on top of the standard placemat for the dish. "Aw, thanks Brother."

"No problem Sis." He felt her hand mess around with the black hair that was to the side of his face. "Knock that off," he tried to push her hand away laughing at her childish antics.

* * *

"Hey Riku, you aren't coming?"

"Naw, I'm good here, you two go ahead."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about it Sora, I have some things to do here anyway," the teenager waited for his friend to finish speaking once more, "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll talk to you later." With that he clicked, and stuffed his cell phone back into his pocket.

The boy walked down the shores of the beach, letting the afternoon sun touch his skin. Riku was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, with black cargo pants, and stripped shoes. He still looked the same as he did a couple of months ago when he finally came back home. And he more than welcomed the peace that he received, along some of the guilt and blame for causing his friends to worry about him. Still he was more than happy to be back home now.

Riku's turquoise eyes scanned the clear blue water of the beach, and it seemed to be shimmering, just like it always did. He sat down at stared out into the ocean, collecting his thoughts just relaxing. And that's all he ever did, he just relaxed.

'There are still so many things left to clean up,' he thought as his eyes stared off towards the endless ocean. He couldn't help but think for a second the adventure he had been on for the past 2 years.

Other than that there were other things on his mind. For instance he thought back to his two best friends, and it was obvious how happy the two of them made one another. He wasn't all that surprised but was happy to hear from their mouths that they indeed were seeing one another as more than just friends. The teen for a while thought they needed their space, so he figured leaving them be sometimes was good for them. And for some reason he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling, he figured being by himself would somehow give an answer as to what it was.

The silver haired youth had always been the kind of person to be by themselves, not drawing much attention unless needed to. Perhaps it was that reason alone he saw no point in trying to find a companion, and he was all right with that. Still it would have been nice if his bosom buddies didn't nag at him on a daily basis about it.

It's not to say he wasn't active, sure at times he would go out, but that was only when he felt really bored, or when he felt suffocated by his own thoughts within the house. A lot of people would just call him lazy now, and maybe they had a good reason to do that…

At that point his phone rang out a melody, and Riku blinked for a couple of seconds. 'Who is it now?' he thought while he answered the phone.

"Riku, Sora told me you can't come, is that true?"

"Yeah, but don't worry Kairi, I'll be okay. You two deserve some time alone together."

"Wha, Riku?" she protested. "Ack Sora you're gonna-!"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, you two." Riku said teasing the two of them.

"Yeah we'll be on our best behavior," Sora's voice could be heard in the background.

"All right then Riku, we'll talk to you later."

Then there was silence, and he placed his phone back into his pocket. He was getting ready to head back home. 'I think I'm just getting lazy…' he thought as he made it down the pier to his boat. For a while he sat down at the edge of the pier, thinking back to the times when it was just Sora and him, racing down the shoreline like always. It was a healthy rivalry, just to always push the other to do their best and get better. The teen closed his eyes remembering a brown haired figure he once met on the shore.

"I wonder what happened to him…"

* * *

A lanky spiky haired brunette walked alongside a wine-red haired girl, both seemed to be lost in a conversation of some sort pertaining to two people. Without a second thought the girl grabbed the boy's gloved hand interlacing their fingers, and he squeezed back getting the message across from her action. 'I really hope you're enjoying this Roxas,' the boy thought to himself thinking back to someone he had met a while ago, not to say he wasn't enjoying it also but this was also part of a promise the two people had made to the others.

"You know… I really wish they could be here," the girl said softly as the two walked hand in hand down the dirt roadway. "She'd really enjoy it, and I know Roxas would too, right Sora?"

"Y-Yeah that's right Kairi…" he felt himself blush a bit as they kept on walking. He breathed in and pulled her just a bit closer, for some reason he couldn't stand having her further apart. "We did promise them we'd spend everyday with one another."

"But… you… the King's letter." Her eyes dropped down to look at the ground she walked on, the grip on Sora's had was a little harder.

"C'mon Kairi please don't think about that, kay?" he couldn't stand to see her get upset. When she was around Riku she'd put on a brave face, but when it was just the two of them she didn't feel the need to put on a mask.

"Sorry Sora, it's just that… well I…"

No words were needed at all as he wrapped his arms around her, as if for an instance he faintly saw blonde strands of hair as he hugged her. It all the more caused him to hold on tighter to her. He didn't know what to say, if he could he'd forget about his mission and give the task to someone else without any sort of repercussion at all he would do it in a heartbeat. 'But it's my job…' he thought dimly. He was entitled to thinking like that once in a while, he was human after all.

"We should get going to the park Kairi," he said after those brief moments of silence. "Otherwise we'll have to get up early again tomorrow and I don't want to-"

"You are such a lazy bum!" she couldn't help but laugh, that was the boy she knew and loved after all.

"You're no better than I am!"

The girl's blue eyes watched as the blue eyed boy ran off down the road, she yelled after him before pursuing her love interest. Sora's laughter trailed off as they made their way past a tall wooden fences on either side of them. Riku and he used to take sticks and run them across the surface of the fence to hear the rhythmic noises that were made. He wouldn't get to do that anymore, not like he did so now but just even the thought made him a little upset. Before long he made his way towards the entrance of the park, his body was pushed forward a bit feeling a tight hug from behind.

"S-Sora you jerk I can't run in sandals," she huffed trying to gather her breath.

"Sorry Kairi," he said stroking one of her hands for a moment before she pulled off of him. He felt a tug on his hands as she pulled him along to the grassy hills that were off in the distance.

"Ah! Sora, look a puppy!"

The boy looked off into the distance to notice a small dog romping around, it looked like it had a leash. Kairi made her way towards it with Sora following closely behind. She didn't seem to pay much attention to protests that he made about even getting close to an unknown dog, a puppy was no exception.

"Oh… it's got a name tag," she was close enough to it. The puppy seemed to take a liking to her right away as it wagged its tail playfully and approached her.

Sora on the other hand looked ahead, but he couldn't see anyone. But off ahead a figure seemed to calmly walk around the foot of the hillside. Something made his leg twitch.

"I'M NOT A FIRE HYDRANT!"

"Sora, stop yelling you're making the little guy pee more from fright!"

The girl at the bottom of the hill paused for a moment looking at the hysterical boy who seemed to be waving his arms around like mad to a red head. 'Looks like Chico is at it again… silly hound,' she thought as she lazily made her way up to the summit of the grassy hill. There in her line of vision she could see a boy wearing black shorts and a white cotton shirt, and a girl wearing blue jean shorts and a pink halter top.

Kairi turned around and looked at the girl that approached them, she wore a simple sleeveless orange shirt and a pair of dark blue shorts. She looked almost related to their friend Waka because of her skin colour but even she seemed to be just a tad darker than him. A notable feature from what Kairi noticed were her eyes and her hair, it was long and jagged.

"Chico… bad doggy," she spoke, scolding the pup as the little black pup made his way towards its master. "Oh… looks like you went pee-pee…"

"Yeah all over my sock and shoe… and I think my leg," a rather tall boy said distastefully as he plopped onto green sun kissed grass and took off his right shoe.

"I'm sorry! He's good around people when I let him go," the girl said rubbing the back of her head.

"It's okay, Sora's never been all that great with dogs," Kairi couldn't help but a giggle a bit. "Especially big ones."

"I-It was only one time! And he jumped on me!"

"You screamed like a little girl," she couldn't help but laugh.

The newcomer smiled watching the two of them, it was nice to see people around her age, or at least that looked to be around her age anyway. The girl couldn't help but take a second glance back at the boy called Sora, he seemed oddly familiar for some reason, even though they never met before. 'Maybe it's just his mannerism, or his hair… spiky hair is becoming a lot common,' she thought to herself. She didn't notice the confused look on the boy's face as she looked at him, it was starting to make him uncomfortable now.

"Hey," that was the only way he could address the girl.

"Oh, sorry! You just… remind me of someone," she muttered feeling her cheek get hot with embarrassment. Kairi was a little confused by it, and a little jealous frankly considering another girl stared right at her man with some kind of agenda behind it. "A-Anyway, my name is Seru."

"The name's Sora," the boy said chuckling.

"My name's Kairi," the girl said without missing a beat.

"Heh, you know you two make a cute couple," Seru couldn't help but point that out. "Anyways I'm sorry if Chico interrupted your date." That was the reaction the girl had been looking for, seeing the two teens turn bright red at the mere thought of it. "So… I'm just gonna leave now, c'mon Chico let's go."

Kairi blinked for a moment watching the girl walk off holding the pup's leash, they had all said their goodbyes. 'Darn it I didn't get to ask her what kind of dog it was!' she thought. There was another idea that popped into her head watching the girl walk away.

"Hey Sora?" Kairi got a bit of a smirk that the brunette felt a little uneasy around.

"Kairi whatever you're thinking I'm saying no to it!"

"Oh c'mon she'd be cute with Riku!"

"…"

"What's that look for? S-Sora…?"

"You are such a girl sometimes ya know?"

"Hey, what do you mean sometimes?"

* * *

The girl and her dog paused for a moment at a bush, that pup really could sniff and just about everything. She was beginning to wonder if the dog did it in spite because she lost her matches most of the time. In any case it gave her time to think, just like she did about almost everyday. She had been through this part of island, a lot of homes with wooden fences, some of wooden porches in the front. There was one house she liked in particular because of the sweet smelling flowers that grew there.

"C'mon Chico stop sniffing that already," she said gently tugging on the puppy's leash.

The little ball of fur decided to be polite and comply but that was only for a brief moment till it started to bark at someone that happened to be walking in the same general direction on the sidewalk. She looked in the general direction to notice a tall teen walking by, that was until Chico almost stepped directly in the guy's way. 'Silver hair…' she thought, 'you definitely don't see that at all,' she looked back to see what on earth her dog was doing. For some reason the little thing thought it could somehow take off the male's shoe with simply tugging on its shoelace.

"Feisty little guy, eh?" the teen knelt down and looked at the black pup, it was determined to get that shoe off.

"Y-Yeah…" she was a little intimidated by his presence, perhaps it was his looks that got to her. "He peed on some guy at the park."

"Damn that sucks to be that guy," he couldn't help but laugh. "So what's the little guy's name?"

"Chico," she said, she hated how she was acting right now, feeling so timid.

"What's your name?" he asked, she finally got to see his eyes, turquoise was an interesting colour, it made him stand out along with his hair.

"Seru." She flinched for a moment feeling Chico pull at the leash for a moment. "Hey hold your horses… So what's your name tall stranger?"

He hadn't realized it till she mentioned it, but once he stood up to dust off his pants he noticed he was rather tall compared to the girl. Then again he had always been the taller one in the group. He found himself staring a second too long at the eye colour of the girl, it made him a little uneasy within his heart. It was almost like a trance in some way because once she blinked all that uneasy settled back down.

"Ri… gurrrawaaar…" the last part wasn't from his mouth, it came from his stomach.

"Looks like your stomach wants to talk for you," she couldn't help but giggle for a moment. "Hungry much?"

"Yeah…" his face as a deep shade of red.

"Well do you want to tag along with Chico and me? We were gonna go to that take-out place by the café that's like a couple of blocks from here," she said as her right foot moved back a bit to get ready to walk.

"I was heading there actually," the boy said following after the girl. He watched her struggle a bit with the pup but it soon complied. "My name's Riku by the way."

"Riku… I'll make sure to remember tha- Ack!" not having paid much attention to the black pup she found herself getting pulled back at bit by the leash.. Riku looked back to notice it rolling around on the front lawn of some unfortunate soul's chamomile flowers. "Chico nooooo, no bad. You're gonna be smelling like that herbal tea… again."

"I'm expecting some little old lady to come down the steps shaking her cane at us," he couldn't help but put in his two cents.

"I swear Chico you can act like such a hell hound sometimes…" she frowned for a moment noticing the cute antics it kept on doing. "Oh don't act cute with me."

"Hey Seru… uh we should probably hurry if we want to make it to the lunch-time special."

She found her own stomach growl loudly at the mention of the special, she knew it all to well. 'At least I'll get to enjoy the guy's company a bit more, it's kinda nice,' she thought quietly to herself. It still embarrassed her, the feeling she experienced was a little new to her but then again she acted like this each time she met someone new of the opposite sex. It surprised her, she had lived on this island for a while now, and not once did she ever run into him, or the other two she had met today.

"Hey Riku… have you always lived on this island?"

"All my life, the island is pretty small," the gears in his head turned. "You're new around here aren't you?"

"S-Sort of," it was a blatant lie but he didn't seem to know.

"My friends and I should show you around the isles then."

His tone was rather friendly, and well it was only polite to accept that offer even if it never would happen. After all this could be the first and last time they would see one another, as was the case with a lot of things. Still for some reason it didn't seem to be a case of empty words. There was sincerity in the boy's voice that warmed her up a bit, such things like that weren't lost amongst the youth after all.

"I'd like that a lot Riku, thanks."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: La Noche (part one)**

"Well you sure look happy," it sounded rather awkward to have that come out of Sora's mouth. "N-Not that it's a bad thing!" he quickly covered up his words noticing the look in Riku's eyes.

"Relax, Sora," the taller teen couldn't help but chuckle.

"So where were you anyway, Riku?" the female in the small trio asked.

"Just out really, no where special…"

"Uh-huh," it was a tone she used when the girl could had an inkling that someone was lying to her.

Riku felt the gaze of his friends digging into him, they wanted him to crack, to spill his guts, they knew he was hiding something from them! Still the teen stood his ground, though he adverted his gaze from Kairi and when he glanced at Sora it didn't make him feel any better. Neither was turning away from both of them all together, their eyes were stabbing the back of his head. He looked down at his left hand to notice the little plastic bag that was gripped slightly in his hand with leftover food from the take-out restaurant; at least there was evidence to prove he just went out.

"So… Sora, how's your shoe?" he wanted to change the conversation quickly, if he even so much as spilled any information it'll simply embarrass him.

"Oh god the SMELL!" the spiky haired teen wailed dramatically going on and on about the odor. "It'll never be the same again, it was violated! So young, that shoes was so-!"

"We get it! It was your favourite shoe…" Kairi placed a palm to her face. "At least you weren't sitting down, that could've been worst. Seriously Riku, how do ya put up with him?" she couldn't help but chuckle noticing the cute pout on Sora's face.

"Easy I tell him to shut up and make me a sandwich… it works halfway," the silver haired teen noticed the pout on his friend being exaggerated. "Oh c'mon I'm kidding! And don't pout like that, you'll get wrinkles then Kairi will dump you for the next attractive Keyblade wielder, and I won't be able to get rid of you."

"Naw, I'll still love him when he's old and grey," she giggled softly as she watched him blush.

Riku didn't pay much attention to both of them, lost in his own thoughts as they sat there atop of the curved bearing paopu tree. The sun that seemed to be great distance away from them slowly began to set as if it were slowly touching the sea that outstretched beyond the horizon, signaling the end of the daylight soon. He couldn't help but think back to the girl he met, the colour of her eyes sent a chill down his spine, it plagued his dream once in a while. 'Calm down, she's nothing like him, heck she seems like a good person, no relation to him at all,' he coached himself through it.

He didn't remember when he said goodbye to the two lovebirds, nor when they left. He had immersed himself in self recollection. He would never admit it to anyone but the thought of their enemy, Xehanort someday returning again filled him with dread. And for a while night terrors had plagued him upon coming back home but as of now they had lessened, which is what he was grateful. Whether or not getting to know the girl with amber eyes would bring back those unwanted memories was yet to be known to him.

"Get a hold of yourself…" he muttered quietly to none else but himself, and before long with his words having settled his heart down he saw the night. Riku found himself underneath the cover of the stars, all giving off their lights to illuminate the darkness.

After a while of star-gazing the teen figured it was time to go home. It was not hard to get back, it was just a simple straight way back to the shore, and the lights from the main land made it all the more easier to find his place. As he walked back to the pier he couldn't help but wonder why now was he contemplating all of this, as if he'd only experienced it for the first time? Perhaps it was because of that girl he had walked home, such a friendly little thing but he couldn't shake the feeling something seemed to cloud her heart, the look in her eyes made him wonder. 'No… it's paranoia, nothing more,' he thought as he stood at the wooden pier now.

He couldn't help but think for a moment. "Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to leave… after all, this world is just too small." He shook his head at what escaped his lips and got on the small wooden rowboat to go back home.

A sound caught his attention as he rowed back to shore, something was rustling inside that white plastic bag. He flinched for a moment thinking something was going to jump at him, but it seemed to be more interested with the contents in the plastic bag.

"At least the food's not going to waste."

* * *

The dark furred rascal shook off its fur as the musculature changed, bones shifted to accommodate the growth, the skin peeled away giving glimpses of the inner tissues and muscles. It didn't seem to be in any pain as it stood still letting its bones grow, crack, and twist. The skin grew back onto the larger frame of the strange looking hound and the fur became short, the markings on its face resembled a skull of some kind as it dawned horns that curved downwards from its head, bat like ears, spikes that ran along the curve of the spine and some kind of strange bones that acted as chest armor.

"Eeeew… Yomi he did it again," the girl said in disgust. "Seriously Chico we put the newspaper so that your skin is EASIER to pick up. You always do that!"

"Why out of all the names did you name him that, he's not even small… Seriously that hound goes past your hips…" her brother stood next to her and chuckled noticing the mess of the shredded pelt. "Looks like you got clean up duty. Just be happy that at least he uses that big litter box we made for him outside."

"… you're punishing me for making you walk with that Riku kid, huh?" she couldn't help but smile noticing the slight snarl on the beast's face. "I thought so, he reeks of it doesn't he?"

"What are you babbling on about this time, Seru?" her brother asked as he tossed her a pair of yellow gloves from one of the sink cabinets.

"That guy that walked me home, he has silver hair," she responded calmly placing the gloves on. She knelt down and picked up the pelt, it had a rather strange odor to it but she had grown accustom to it. She placed the pelts on the newspaper that was a couple of inches away. "But… heh, it's funny he seems really sincere."

"No wonder you came back home so happy, you had a good time kiddo," he responded noticing the embarrassed look on her face. "Ya know there's nothing wrong with having a crush on him, you're seriously over-due for one anyway."

"S-Shut up Yomi!"

Even the hound seemed to be smirking as its lips curled into a wide smile showing off the menacing sharp teeth, it lightly nudged the girl's shoulder and walked off into the living room area. It took Seru a while to overcome her embarrassment but when she did she wrapped the newspapers that concealed the only evidence of the transformation and dumped it into the trash bin close to the sliding patio door.

"He has… a lot of light in him…" she looked back at her brother who leaned against the kitchen counter. "If we keep hanging out it'll only be a matter of time, he'll be able to see right through me."

"Oh not this again, Seru c'mon you'll be fine," he rubbed the back of his head tussling his hair for a while. "Besides he didn't seem to mind hanging out with you like almost all day, right?"

The girl nodded and thought for a moment; maybe she was just being rather silly. Yomi smiled and stroked his chin getting an idea. He walked over to his sister after she placed the gloves into the sink, and placed an arm around her shoulder. Her eyebrows moved downward as she pouted looking at the tall figure crack a playful smile.

"Yomi… what went through your head this time?"

"Invite the guy over," her eyes widened at the suggestion. "Aw why not, I mean I'll get to meet the guy that's responsible for my little sister's smiles today. Then you know kick his ass if he makes you cry or… well does unspeakable things to you."

"I just met the guy and you're already thinking into the long term of the friendship?" her voice cracked.

"I'm your brother, I'm supposed to," he chuckled. "I gotta look out for the little one, right?"

"See this is why I don't even consider bringing guys home…" she ducked under his arm and playfully pushed him. "You'll eventually creep them out."

"Then that means they got something to hide!"

Their conversation dwindled after a while; but not the laughter from their time together, it seemed to fill the kitchen. Plates were put away and scraps were fed to the hound, and before long the kitchen table seemed to look clean. Yomi was putting away the dry glass cups that had been used for the day, while Seru was washing the plates.

"You should take him outside again, you know he gets antsy around this time," she watched as her brother walked off into the living.

"Aye, aye sir!"

The dark skinned girl found herself smiling once brother was out of sight. She was left alone and with that she thought, it would benefit to befriend someone again, plus it would give her a reason to leave the house more. While lost in thought she was able to finish drying the last plate, finally placing it inside one of the cabinets that was off to the side above the sink. Seru turned her head slightly, her eyes glanced out at the night sky from the view of the kitchen window in front of the sink. 'I guess I should take you outside,' she yawned softly as she stretched feeling some water trickle down from her fingers to her arms.

A small clicking noise from her tongue alerted the hound, its bat like ears twitched and wagged its tail happily like a puppy as it stood up from its spot on a small rug in the living room. The beast's claws tapped against the wooden floor as it walked towards the girl, barking slightly as it stood in plain sight of the kitchen area.

"Ssssh…" she whispered as she shook her hands slightly to get rid of some of the water droplets. The strange looking hound lowered its ears slightly and let out an unearthly whimper. "You know you can't bark loudly here silly. But you'll see boy, we'll be leaving pretty soon."

She dried her hands on a small rag that hung on a makeshift rack that Yomi had made that was underneath one of the top cabinets. Once they were dry enough she moved towards the sliding glass patio door and slid it open after taking off the lock, the hound followed in suit to take his opportunity and explore around the backyard and the streets of the mainland again. She watched the hound slip into the backyard, its thin long tail wagging to and fro for a while. The girl turned around once she stepped onto the wooden patio and slide the glass door shut to prevent annoying pests to make their way inside. Something made her pause as she looked to her side, the beast nuzzled her side with its forehead for a moment and just as quickly as it did that it jumped the wooden fence off in the distance and took refuge in the shadows as it decided to explore again.

It did not take her by surprise considering the hound loved to go out on walks, she remembered it being active when she had been younger. It seemed that age didn't hinder the beast's curiosity at all, which in a way gave her hope about growing up. Her feet moved her along the patio towards one of the wooden rocking chairs that was kept to left side opposite of the azaleas that towards the right. Seru stretched her arms and yawned loudly, she shivered for a moment and rested on the rocking chair, gently pushing herself back and forth.

The amber coloured eyes scanned the infinite sky and its vast darkness that twinkled with stars, but she felt a little disappointed that nothing happened, not even a meteor shower of the sorts. Still it distracted her for a moment before she remembered the refreshing activity that partook today. 'I wonder if he'll be true to his word…' she would be disappointed but despite that she wouldn't cast the blame on him.

"You probably must be laughing…" her voice was soft now as it scanned the stars up above. "You'd be just as ecstatic as him, and teasing me just as much. You know, I'm a little scared to be honest, you more than anyone would know how people can be and I… I don't want my trust to be taken advantage just like it was for you. R-Remember that quote you liked? Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body? I think I'm doing a good job with it! I-I've gotten better, even Yomi said so!" she giggled softly, almost as if a child was telling something to their mother.

* * *

A rather tall woman wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans and a white shire seemed to sit on the couch next to a boy who seemed to look flustered, the deep blush on his cheeks were all too obvious. The woman on the other hand laughed softly and ruffled the boy's hair causing his hair to look rather messy. He tried to move but soon a pair of turquoise eyes glanced back at another pair and the two laughed.

"So… is what Ms Walkers said true?" she leaned forward to show her interest. "You ate with a girl to Koy's Take-Out?"

"Y-Yeah," the boy said looking away from the woman.

The woman tucked several loose strands of hair behind her ear and smiled warmly at her son. The two of them looked alike, both sporting natural silver hair and turquoise eyes, but their demeanor differed from one another. For the mother she had placed into a life that was doused in glamour and parties which made her rather sociable and energetic once in a while as age seemed to slowly take its toll now. The boy on the other hand was a little reserved, even at the parties his mother hand taken him when she couldn't find him a baby-sitter. Granted at some times the two of them would clash, and when Riku had come back from his adventure they butted heads for a moment after their emotional reunion.

"I didn't know you were seeing someone," she tilted her head curiously. "I mean I always assumed you'd tell me if you were seeing someone…"

"That's because I'm not Mom. I just met her today," Riku said. "Besides I offered to walk her home since she lives further up the mainland than we do."

"That's my little gentleman," she couldn't help but feel proud she raised a good boy. "I guess that explains the little smile on your face when you came home."

"What?"

"You were smiling for a while. See? I told you meeting new people was a good idea!" an idea popped into her head and she smirked. "Is she cute?"

"Huh?" his face was bright red. "I-I barely know her well enough!"

"Sooooo what you're saying is, is that IF you knew her well you'd think about it?" she asked. "Riku I-…"

"N-No Mom!" his voice cracked slightly. "I'm sure to other people out there she's cute! But I… I wasn't thinking like that at all. I think Kairi's cute, but well we all knew I had a small crush on her, plus she's my friend. And this girl she's, I don't know how to put it. I just met her…" he rubbed his temples gently trying to draw focus away from the tinged cheeks.

"I'm just kidding Riku, no need to get so worked up about it," he felt a pat on his head as she spoke.

"I uh… kinda promised her I'd show her around the island since she's new. Would it be okay if I left early tomorrow?" he asked.

"On the condition you bring her over once you're done." she noticed the confused expression on the boy's face as he looked at her. "Think of it as my way of saying 'thanks for putting up with my son for the day'. Besides I'll just drive her back home, poor thing will be exhausted."

"I gotta see if Sora and Kairi want to come with us…" he yawned softly covering his mouth. "Anyways before I head off to bed I'll go take out the trash…"

She watched her son hop off from the couch as if he were a little kid again and strolled along the carpet in his socks. She shook her head and noticed the noise from the television screen had been muted for quite some time. 'Oh no I missed my show!' she thought and sighed heavily, 'I'll just catch the re-run in the afternoon tomorrow'. Like any mother she enjoyed the small talks she had with her son, after not seeing him in two years time there was still a lot to catch up on. Dismissing the thought she had she decided to take a hold of the remote and childishly waved it around like a wand before taking aim and hit the 'mute' button again to give the television a voice once more.

Riku looked down at where he sat and pulled out the light blue coloured slippers he had left under the table. He put them on and chuckled for a moment at his mom's silly antics, she had always been like that. The trash though on the other hand needed to get thrown out and that's what the boy did as he walked over to the trash bin and took off the lid. The plastic bag was tied with a knot on the top of it and the backdoor was opened. He took the garbage bag in one hand and used the other one to flip the switch for the light outside.

All the assortments of the scraps and old leftovers, paper towels and failed cooking ideas, along with other foodly wastes started to create a very unappealing aroma. Riku tried to ignore the smell but he felt like it would sink into his skin if he didn't hurry up towards the large plastic garbage container that was off to the side of the house. The bag was set down once he was close enough and lifted the lid, pushing it back and hoisted the bag up giving it a light toss into the opening. The lid was flipped closed and the boy dusted his hands for a moment.

A strange growling sound was heard close by and Riku turned around slowly. His eyes widened as he found himself staring at two menacing yellow eyes. He tried not to let fear get the best of him, perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him. The pair of yellow eyes advanced slowly, it growled once in a while and for a moment the silver haired teen thought it was a large cat. The faint outline of it from the back porch's light dismissed that notion, it looked bigger than that!

Slowly the boy moved his left arm and opened his palm, he didn't think he'd have to use the Keyblade so early. The pair of yellow eyes watched curiously for a moment and sniffed the air. A strange bark could be heard as it lowered its stance, the boy knew right away it was going to get ready to pounce. The beast leapt forward and the boy pulled out his Keyblade, he expected the force of impact but what didn't register into his head was the fact that the hound disappeared into a puff of black smoke.

"Where did it…?" he looked around and noticed at his right hand side a skull like pattern on the beast. "W-Whoa…!" he staggered away from it slightly as it advanced slowly. "Eh?" he beast seemed to be nuzzling him for a moment

It didn't appear to be a Heartless, but it wasn't exactly a dog either. All together it wasn't a threat but something still made him feel uneasy about it, being licked and nuzzled by a strange looking creature wasn't exactly all that welcoming to him. It must belong to something, or someone with enough magic or will to summon a creature like this. The Keyblade was dispelled, but still he kept his guard up noticing the menacing teeth that lined the thing's mouth. Its long thin tail wagged happily as Riku got a better look at it, the musculature on it was intimidating as were the horns and the spikes along its spine.

"Go on and get out of here ya crazy dog, my mom's gonna flip if she sees something like you outside. Besides your barking probably woke up some neighbors."

It whimpered slightly and decided to take its leave, it disappeared into the shadows once again. And that was the last time Riku saw it again for the night. He knew he would have to inform Sora about it, because although the creature meant no threat, the master of it might.


End file.
